But the senior officer, who runs a national police resources co-ordination centre, defended the resources spent on historic matters.

He said: ‘We have seen a substantial increase in police demand in the past several years, most noticeably with the increasing threat from terrorism and an increase in complex crimes such as fraud.

‘This is at a time when savings are having to be made due to a real-term cut in government funding and with officer numbers at their lowest level since 1985. We are working to deal with this increased demand while also undertaking substantial work into non-recent investigations, such as those on child sexual abuse. They require a major investment of resources and these will often come from other areas of policing.’

The money is being used during inquiries into sex abuse, paedophile conspiracies, undercover policing and the Hillsborough tragedy

Chief constables have faced criticism for pouring time and money into investigations into dead suspects and sometimes long-forgotten causes.

Lord Lawson has accused them of ‘complaining’ too much about spending cuts while chasing ‘unsubstantiated’ historic sex abuse claims.

The Tory former Chancellor called on forces to focus their resources on tackling the urgent security needs of today.

‘Look at how much the police is spending now on chasing up often unsubstantiated accusations of historic sex abuse,’ he said.

‘That’s got nothing to do with security. Those resources should be put where the need is.’

The Metropolitan Police’s Operation Yewtree, which investigated abuse by Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, David Lee Travis and others, cost £1.8million in its first year alone.

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